Everyone on Skype has a “Skype Name”. This is like an ID. It is a single string of letters and/or digits – e.g. jsmith436, fredflintstone.

If you know the Skype Name of the person you want to call, you can just type it straight into the box at the bottom of the Skype window, then press the green “Call” button to call that person.

If you don’t know the Skype Name of the person you want to call, you will need to search the global Skype network for it. To do this, choose “Contacts > Search for Skype users…” from the main Skype menu. A search window will appear. Enter the full name of the person then click the “Search” button. Keep in mind that there are millions of registered Skype users, so there may be a number of people with the same name as the person you want to contact. If this is the case you will need to narrow your search by entering other criteria, such as Country, State etc. Another option is to enter an email address instead of the name. (All of these additional criteria require that your contact has filled in all the relevant details in their Skype profile).

Once you locate the person, you will probably want to add them as a contact before you call them. To do this, click the contact then click the “Add Selected Contact” button. If you don’t want to add them as a contact, just write down or remember their Skype Name, close the search window, then type the Skype Name straight into the box at the bottom of the Skype window and press the green “Call” button to start a call.

If you added the person as a contact, simply select the contact from the list of Skype contacts in the main Skype window, then press the green “Call” button to call the contact.

PC to Phone

Jargon alert: This is known as “SkypeOut”. To learn how to make calls to normal phones from your PC, click this SkypeOut link.